Friday, May 11, 2007

It Is Finished...

In the words of one of the greatest prophets of all time, "It is finished!" Although I think my "long-suffering" during DOWNSIZE ME should probably not be compared to a crucifixion...I suppose that's a bit sacrilege.

But it IS finished! I have made it through 28 days without caffeine (except for that one bite of chocolate cake)!!! I thought today might never come...LOL

It has NOT been easy...mostly because old habits are very hard to break. And that's really what caffeine AKA Mountain Dew has been for me...a bad habit. Guzzling the wonderful elixir became a "habit" more than a need...my graphed statistics prove that. Not only did my fatigue level DECREASE significantly, I also began to sleep a few more hours a night. I can't say there was much change in my weight (although I'll take the 3.5 pound weight loss over nothing!) and my blood pressure certainly does not seem to have been effected much at all.

The initial reason I began DOWNSIZE ME was because of recent "migraine" headaches (remember? I barely did!), which I had never experienced before in my life. My neurologist DID start me on prophylactic "migraine" medicine (Verapamil), which I've already stopped taking a full dose of anyway (because I can't be expected to remember to take pills twice a day...short term memory loss!), but I'm not sure that has had anything to do with my absence of "migraines". I STILL think I may have had some kind of weird virus (I think I wrote about my coworker's brother and mother suddenly having migraines as well? They haven't had any more either and THEY didn't even give up caffeine!)...interestingly enough, my 14 year old niece has been having a "migraine" all week as well (in Missouri) and doctors can't figure out why SHE is suddenly having a headache either.

So what does this tell me? Not a whole damn lot really. Except that my belief I NEEDED caffeine to ward off fatigue and "pep" me up on a daily basis seems to be false...I've really done better without it.

Does this mean I'm going to continue to deprive myself of ALL caffeine? Probably a big "nada" on that one, too...LOL. I imagine I'll start taking in caffeine again on a moderate basis or at least stop being soooo hyper vigilant about the issue anyway. And I'll probably start this weekend by TREATING MYSELF TO THAT CHOCOLATE MALT I'VE BEEN THREATENING TO MAKE!!!!

I appreciate "all y'all's" support and down right "hi-larry-us" comments about this issue...let's face it...if it hadn't been for the risk of PUBLIC HUMILIATION, I doubt I could have made it through this without you!

So...since this stretch of day shift (yuck) hours are kicking my butt right now, I think I'll go retire to my couch and watch a bit of bad TV with my under privileged cat...she seems to be suffering from a different kind of "attention deficit" disorder than I am used to seeing in clients!

Congratulations! You are very strong to have pulled this off--I am still surprised you were able to work your tense schedule/stressful job without caffeine. All my assumptions about caffeine and our bodies need for it to function were wrong. And it made your fatigue from ms not as bad! Imagine that! Go now strong woman into the land of chocolate! Joyce

Survivor MS

HAWAII 2014 PARASAIL

EMAIL:

LOCATION:

Seattle, WA, USA

AGE & OTHER TRIVIA:

53/female/Leo

DIAGNOSIS:

Relapsing & Remitting Multiple Sclerosis--Diagnosed 04/15/2003--(because having to pay taxes that day just wasn't enough!)

MEDICATIONS:

I have taken Copaxone, Avonex, IVIg, Tysabri, and 5 doses of Novantrone in 2007. I also participated in a Rituxan Study in 2005-2006. In the fall of 2007, while still on Novantrone, I began having "break through" symptoms, which became more and more frequent. In March 2008, I had an MRI that showed many enhancing lesions--Novantrone was no longer effective. Tysabri had been discontinued in November 2006, due to a questionable "anaphylactoid reaction". I received my first restart dose of Tysabri on April 8th, 2008, without experiencing ANY allergic response...I completed 9 doses of Tysabri in 2008, but continued to have some relapsing symptoms. I have, since December 2008, stopped all Disease Modifying medications and feel great...but don't tell my neurologist!